The Larger Distraction [R, Lemon]

[Gundam Girl]

Sooo I wrote this for CoL 2009 and forgot to post here. Story of my life. I miss BL! I need to get back into 1xR. That said, it's been so long this story might have skewed characterization, but it's just me playing around and I hope you enjoy!

The Larger Distraction

By NessieGG

Somewhere between his disappearance after Dekim Barton's attempt to overthrow the ESUN and her inauguration from Vice Foreign Minister to the Foreign Minister, Relena became aware that Heero would come back. Or, at the very least, that he would allow himself to be seen for more than a minute at a time. Six years of Prussian blue eyes glinting from balconies and miniscule, supportive smiles at a distance would prove to be as hard on him as it was on her.

It wasn't as though she could not envision her future with someone other than Heero Yuy. On the contrary, she had dated a number of men who held both public profiles and interest in her work. One of them had come close to proposing before she had broken up with him. Three of them had broken up with her, and the rest she had parted with on mutual agreement.

With Heero, agreement was not a concern. The true matter was closeness; he was probably her oldest friend these days, and yet he only showed up a handful of times a year on average. He had turned down an offer to join Preventer as a member of her security staff, and although Une kept the invitation open, she knew he had not accepted.

He did not contact her. She received news of him through the others; early on, Heero had stayed with each other them for a certain amount of time, and Quatre (sincere, polite assurances that he was fine), Duo (laid-back comments on his indestructibility and stubbornness), and Wufei (brief, witty remarks on Yuy's tendency to exist strategically) did their best to keep her informed. Even Trowa once tapped into her private mail line to let her know that Heero had visited the circus on L3 and was well. Trowa did not know how he spent his time, only that he must have had a job, because he had not heard of any inter-Colony transport shuttles getting stolen. Relena smiled as she remembered the tranquilly reported video recording. She had returned the call to thank Trowa for the message, but she hadn't asked for any contact information in regards to the most aloof of ex-pilots.

Her days of following Heero were done. She wasn't fifteen anymore and, frankly, she didn't have the time. If Heero was getting by and healthy to touch base with his friends, that was good enough for her. And clearly, he was taking it upon himself to do some following of his own.

But she knew, in spite of the relationships she'd had, she was waiting. And waiting was painful and exhausting. Perhaps consciously, or perhaps as a defense mechanism, Relena stopped thinking about him; she saw the faded teddy bear on her dressing table each day, but Heero's face no longer superimposed itself over the stuffed figure in her mind's eye.

One evening, she sat at the table, and as she lifted a string of diamonds from the jewelry box behind it, her wrist brushed the fake fur. She didn't so much as pause, reaching back to fiddle with the clasp.

There was no large looking-glass attached to her vanity, only a small magnifying mirror in a stand on the tabletop. It was angled upward from when she had been styling her bangs, and Relena's gaze flicked to it the second she felt a touch. When a larger pair of hands took the delicate ends of the necklace out from between her fingers and expertly looped them together, she wasn't surprised, or startled. In the mirror, she saw the reflection of his jaw, from the curve of his chin to his left ear. The familiar angle of his nose, the way his mouth had tightened briefly in concentration soothed her. For all she knew, he had planned the entrance just so she would have no time to feel frightened.

Heero couldn't scare her anymore.

When his hands fell away from her neck ? lingering, unless she imagined it, at the skin left naked by her upswept hair ? Relena turned on the swivel stool. She remained sitting, but tilted her head back to meet his downward gaze expectantly. She considered the merit of saying hello, decided to skip it. After all, they had never bothered with good-bye.

Relena smiled. ?Thanks.?

He replied with a curt nod, folding his hands behind his back like he might touch her again if he left them at his sides. Relena noted how the long-sleeved black tee he wore pulled over his chest and wondered how much he'd grown. They hadn't been this close since the night he had ?killed? Mariemaia. ?You're going out?? His eyes passed briefly over the formal dress she wore, its sapphire-blue silk leaving her arms bare and meeting in a V shape between her breasts in front, between her shoulder blades in back. The diamonds he had secured sparkled at her throat in the overheard light of her bedroom.

?Yes,? Relena answered and stood fluidly, as though his question had reminded her. Her own queries were beginning to make themselves known, clawing down her mind on their way to her mouth, curiosity growing the longer their eyes met. ?It's an event the Colonial embassy is hosting for??

?Can I go with you??

Controlling surprise was second nature to her, but that made her features freeze for just a moment. She looked past him and saw the garment back he had deposited on her bed without a rustle of plastic to alert her to his presence, then looked at the digital clock on the nightstand beyond. ?Can you be ready in five minutes??

?Sure.?

Relena turned back to the vanity, stocked a shimmering clutch with lipstick, compact powder, a thin stack of cash, and her cell phone, before stepping from the room and closing the door behind her to give him some privacy while he changed.

In the hall, her pulse began to beat against the pale stones of her bracelet. Relena breathed deeply, touched her fingertips to the curls on her head and to the corner of her painted mouth, and exhaled slowly. Calm, she turned to the door as it opened only four minutes after she had vacated. Heero emerged in a tuxedo, his hair devoid of any taming product but freshly combed. He was holding the wrap she had forgotten to grab the foot of her bed.

As he passed it to her, his palm slid over her knuckles. His hand was rougher than she remembered.

---

She had to work, of course. Parties were not held with the goal of fun when it came to politicians. And the guests were remarkably off-balanced, either old enough that retirement loomed near, or so young that ability could expectedly be called into question.

Relena, the showpiece of the latter, possessed a talent for helping both groups to mingle in comfort. Simultaneously, Heero could see she was holding flash conferences with everyone who stopped her for a greeting. Her technique was simple, but impressive: shake a wrinkled or overconfident hand, respond to any mention of current events with an entendre alluding primarily to her interest, award with a winning smile, and saunter off to the next target to be acquired. The process was, he decided after witnessing several of these exchanges, more delicate than any mission he had executed.

It also had the double advantage of reducing any gossip his presence might have caused to the absolute minimum. There had been an initial stir of undertones when she had entered the ballroom on his arm, but discussion of Earth/Colony coexistence trumped that of the unknown man at a fundraiser with Foreign Minister Darlian.

Additionally, she was doing an excellent job at keeping herself together around him. Better than him, at any rate. While she coolly did her job, Heero went almost ignored. She had suggested he not go round the room with her on the off-chance that some of the Colony representatives recognized him from his time spent on L4 with Quatre. Agreeing, he had gone to the bar off to one side, claimed a seat and decided to wait her out. There were only so many people she really had to speak with, and in order to keep up the guise of festiveness, he predicted she would want to dance.

When Relena did finally wrap up her subtle consultations, she joined him at the bar and ordered a glass of champagne. Before he could ask, she told him she always drank only one after tackling the crowd in a self-congratulatory tradition she had cultivated since she'd turned eighteen.

Her glass came, as well as one for Heero the bartender mistakenly made. She gestured for him to take it. He lifted the flute but only held it, opting to watch her profile while she sipped at the fizzing liquid. The glow of the low-hanging bar lamps threaded through the hair intricately knotted atop her head ? darker than it used to be, he noted. Her diamonds glowed at her neck, her wrist. For a moment, Heero dwelled on how he had touched both places only hours earlier. But Relena swallowed and turned her head, and her eyes made him forget.

?Bored?? she asked, a smile already playing at the corners of her pink mouth.

?Excruciatingly,? Heero told her, taking a drink and experiencing a moment of levity not brought on by the champagne.

?We'll dance,? Relena replied, ?so then we'll be bored while moving.?

He followed her to the floor, where couples danced like the chaperoned boarding school student most had probably been raised as, and fell into the obligatory position with her. The silk dress was warm on her waist, but the hand he held at shoulder-level was chilly from her champagne flute.

Around them, the chatter was incessant. They did not converse. Young and old attendees flirted, regardless of relationship status. Heero's gaze remained locked with Relena's, but there was no intimacy in their eyes or their movements, nothing that would gain the attention of tomorrow's news. They danced three waltzes, returned to finish their drinks, then danced some more. Heero stopped counting.

?Do you want to go home?? he questioned at last, when her facial features could not maintain their courteous interest any longer.

?Yes, thank you.? He might as well have asked if she was enjoying her stay at the Colonial embassy. Heero gathered up her wrap and draped it over her outstretched arms in a flawless show of an escort's competence. As he did, he caught the scent of the perfume she must have applied before he had entered her room. It was not the first time tonight his attention had been dragged to it. She quickly said goodnight to the topmost tier of guests, then allowed him to casually lead her out.

---

To collect the items he had left there, Heero would only follow Relena back to her bedroom after she granted him permission (which seemed redundant to her, considering his earlier manner of entrance). They didn't speak during the ascent of the palace's grand staircase, nor in the corridors that twined until they arrived at her rooms. But Relena could hear him breathing the whole way, feel his even paces at her side.

Aside from the physical growth, she knew there were changes about him she could not pinpoint. He studied her in the same fashion as the fifteen-year-old Gundam pilot who could not understand nor immediately accept a young pacifist's bid for peace. But now his watching was less discreet, more confident ? as though he knew she would feel the weight of his eyes and did not mind.

Entering their destination, Relena walked in the beam of hallway light that fell across the floor, pausing beside her expansive bed to flick on the lamp. The glow stretched from wall to wall, catching in the lighter strands of Heero's hair when she turned to regard him.

He merely stood in the doorway, posture straight and stiff. There was quiet between the for several drawn-out seconds. Relena was somehow unsurprised when he reached behind him and shut the door.

?It's been six years,? he told her placidly.

A thin smile tipped her mouth upward. ?You missed my last birthday. I'm twenty-two now.?

?I know. You went to Mars. Zechs threw a party.?

Relena wondered if these short, precise sentences he favored was the method he had used for reporting back to Dr. J during the war. For a second, Relena stood rooted to the spot, head wheeling. She had not thought that old scientist's name in years. Heero's presence always made memories shoot up and supplant the current matter.

Such as why he was still here.

When Heero made to move to continue the ?conversation,? Relena exhaled a little ? she would not allow herself a sigh ? before rubbing the bridge of her nose with impatience. ?It has been six years, Heero. Why not seven? Why not ten??

To his credit, he didn't pretend not to comprehend her real question: why come back at all? His body responded before he could; his shoulders lost some of their rigidity, while his jaw clamped up. ?I didn't...I was waiting for the right time.?

?To grace us with your presence? Well, me. You visited all of the others.? It wasn't her intention to sound affronted, but his decision to avoid her had been a source of pain in the past. And despite what the old men she worked with thought, Relena felt she had a right to her emotions. Unfortunately, irritation was not something she could summon with Heero staring back at her, his eyes beautiful and knowing even from across the room. ?Do you have to look at me like that?? she asked at last, her voice lower than she realized.

Heero finally took a step away from the door, then another. Each step narrowed the space between the Foreign Minister and the person she had once, incredibly, known only as the nameless boy on the beach. ?Like what??

?Like you're trying to make up for staying away for over half a decade by letting me see you.?

That stopped him, and the way Heero's head ducked slightly appeared almost sheepish. ?You're forgetting, Relena, that I wanted to see you.? He smiled; that was new, Relena judged. He hadn't been able to smile that way at sixteen, and he had never set her heart racing quite in that way before.

?What I'm trying to figure out,? Relena backpedaled, pretending she hadn't just inwardly acknowledged his unexpected effect on her, ?is why. Because now the timing is better??

When Heero didn't answer, Relena slowly nodded. She should not have expected anything more from him. When it came to the mission, her old friend (if friend he was) was a miracle-worker, but when it came to people and his interaction with them, Yuy had precious little to offer. She didn't blame him.

She started past him, intending to open the door and clearly express her position on unannounced visits. ?It's late. I think you should??

Heero's warm, calloused fingers wrapped around her wrist, his touch resting at the top of the hand she had unconsciously fisted. Images of a sunny day, scraps of a hand-written invitation fluttering away; the dim light of a forgotten Colony and Heero's breath fanning across her face just before...

She knew he felt the speed of her pulse, and that he knew what it meant. Their lips crashed together, her arm still caught in his grip. It was awkward at first. And then, as both of them relaxed, it became amazing. Relena had never experienced this kind of kiss. The one they had shared after the war had been hurried, too impulsive to matter. Until that day, she had never considered kissing Heero. Afterward, the thought had lingered just beneath every other irrationality Relena attempted to bury inside herself.

Now, kissing anyone else ever again seemed impossible.

Heero released her wrist to pull her against him, one hand burning through the silk at her back, the other above it where the V left her uncovered. Relena raised her arms to tangle her fingers into his hair. Why had it not occurred to her that they might arrive here, at this moment? It seemed the most obvious conclusion. Had Heero known?

Breaking apart for air, Relena looked up and found the Prussian blue eyes, glittering from beneath half-lowered lids. No, even he couldn't anticipate that much. Warming all over, she leaned forward, but his lips only brushed hers this time.

?Relena...? She steeled herself, in case giving him the benefit of the doubt had been the wrong movie, and the hurt broke anew. Heero's hands settled on her shoulders, providing some distance between them. His eyes didn't lose their cloudiness until he squeezed them shut and reopened them. ?Relena,? he repeated, ?I didn't come here for this.?

?I believe you.? The words came out quietly, vibrato. She wanted to curse for that, but bit her lower lip instead. Nerves. Why in the world could he make her nervous?

?If you don't want me to??

?Heero,? she cut in, stronger now that she realized her timidness was an absurdity after the things she had gone through. ?I've wanted you since I was old enough to understand what want is. And, you'll agree, I grew up very quickly.?

Surprise widened his eyes a fraction before he shrugged, vague smile returning. ?I'll agree to that.?

Her hands went to the button of his tuxedo jacket, and to her astonishment, she wasn't the only one suffering an abnormal heart rate. She parted the jacket and shoved it his shoulders, freeing him of it completely in one fluid moment.

Heero didn't let her go any further before he captured her again, his embrace vice-like as he seized her mouth with his. He tongue laved the indentation left on her bottom lip by her own teeth. Relena moaned low in her throat. Driven, Heero easily found the zipper concealed at her side and yanked it down. The straps fell from her shoulders, and she shrugged out of it, letting the dress pool at her feet.

Heero reached past her and pulled something off bed. The sound of crinkling plastic and heaping clothes reminded her of the reason they had come here together in the first place. Faintly amused, she began to laugh. Heero discouraged the sound by walking her backward and gently pushing her down so that she sat on the edge of her bed. She leaned over to deal with the straps of her shoes while Heero unbuttoned his dress shirt in record time. She caught him looking at her bare back and became acutely aware that she was now clad in a strapless bra, a thong (practical, as the silk dress would have showed panty lines, but now she was glad of it), and about a thousand hair pins.

She started on the pins, thinking that later they might impale her scalp. She hurried through it, and yanked out a few strands of hair in the process. Heero had kicked off his shoes, pulled off his socks, and removed his belt by the time she finished. He stood barefoot in slacks and open shirt. Pins littered the floor, and he stepped over them to slide a knee onto the bed. Relena maneuvered him into a sitting position so she could straddle his thighs. His hands immediately went to her hips, and she gasped into his mouth when she felt his erection through both his slacks and her underwear. She might have gone limp right then, if she didn't reach down and undo this fly. Fingers brushing him through plain cotton boxers, Heero growled, grabbed her hand and brought her palm to his cheek. She smiled against his lips. Planting his hands on the mattress, he raised his hips even as she sat astride them and let her pull off the slacks and boxers together, kicking them off the rest of the way.

?I'd like to know,? he said lowly, ?how I got to be nude before you.?

The fact that he was joking shocked her enough that her responding chuckle was delayed. Heero didn't wait for any suggestions she might have had, instead sliding his fingers into the top of her bra, unhooking it, and casting it away. Relena heard the faint smack as the garment collided with the wall. Heero must have decided that divesting her of the thong would take too much time, breaking the strap on each side simultaneously.

Before she had the chance to close in on him again, Relena experienced a bizarre sensation of gravity defiance. It was only when her back hit the bevy of pillows at the head of the bed that she realized Heero had more or less tossed her, pouncing in the same second to nip at her neck and collarbones. Her ears rang as she brought her hands up and smoothed them over his spine, exploring every ridge and dip.

He pleasured her like she was an enigma to be decoded by his thorough mind; carefully, as if too much pressure might destroy her or set her off. Relena hissed as his teeth scraped the underside of her left breast and decided maybe he wouldn't mind the former. Her conviction grew when deft hand came into contact with the moist heat at her body's center. She would have come right then, had Heero's mouth not distractingly returned to hers and swallowed the groan he evoked from her throat.

?Wait,? she whispered, the word meaningless as she tightened around his fingers. Heero huffed a chuckle, flicked his tongue against her ear.

?I have. Six years.?

She was too absorbed in his generous ministrations to register the comment. He retreated from both her core and her lips, but the protest died inside her when their eyes met again. Heero suspended himself above her, his arms locked to both sides and trapping her in. His gaze was soft, darkened with lust, and his study of her this time was different from the rest.

?What?? she murmured, self-consciousness creeping in. ?Heero??

Relena thought the silence might drown them both until he balanced one arm to bring a hand to her face and smooth his thumb over her cheek. ?I love you, Relena.? She took an breath, which became a sharp gasp as he eased into her.

Heat flared in them both, and Relena's fingersnail left pale tracks in the back of his thighs as she held him still for a minute. Their breath mingled, then stopped as they kissed and Heero began a slow rhythm, rocking into her. Relena joined him in it, surging upward to meet him as he came down, the strength of his thrusts intensifying as their tempo increased.

?Heero, I?? she tried to say, but the force of their mutual desire for each other made speaking an impossibility. She could only kiss his neck, his shoulder, arching back when his went deeper and caressed the place that sent lightning streaking through her every cell.

His head fell forward, his face burying between her breasts. He tasted one nipple, then sucked on it. The simple gesture was Relena's undoing, and she thrashed beneath him. Heero pulled out to the tip and, grinding into her one last time, landed in a heap of shaky limbs, voicing her name in release. Relena held his full weight for a delicious moment, too spent to hold him when he rolled to the side. Heero took her with him so that she lay, collapsed, on his chest.

He reached up to push wayward strands back from her face, then kept his hand at the back of her head. He threaded his fingers through her wild hair, wavy from her previously formal style and tangled from lovemaking. ?Relena,? he whispered.

She settled her cheek on his shoulder, lightly running her fingers over his bicep and down his forearm to twine their fingers together. ?Where have you been?? It was the simple question she had been too proud to ask earlier.

?With you.? Her curious expression met his tired smile. ?I've been piloting every ESUN space shuttle assigned to your transportation for the last five and half years.? His eyes grew solemn as hers went wide. ?I told you, Relena. I will protect you.?

?The shuttles?! That's how you knew I went to Mars!? It also explained his method for hopping Colonies on his visits to the other Gundam pilots. She realized he must have spent his annual vacations with them, leading them all to believe he was wandering when his life couldn't have been more stable. ?And...when I was right there, you??

?It killed me,? he said, his tone too prosaic to make him sound overdramatic. ?Especially when Preventer considered the trip secure enough that no guards accompanied you. I thought about coming out to meet you, but the distraction...?

Her head swam as she try to reconcile the fact that Heero had been with her, alone with her even, dozens of times. She could not muster anger, but she wanted to be angry with him. The warmth of his hand cradling her head reminded her that he had only done it to keep her safe. She had heard the expression ?so near, and yet so far? - their situation was the epitome of it.

?Then...? Her brow knitted as she thought, trying to predict him. ?Why now, Heero??

His lips pressed to the curve of her throat. ?You were right on the first guess. The timing is good. Staying away was starting to be the bigger distraction. Watching you improve the world improved me too, Relena. The world needs peace.? He extracted his hand from her hair to prop himself up on one elbow and bring his face closer to hers. ?I need you.?

This kiss was less heated than the others, but Relena was trembling by the time he pulled away. ?I need you too,? she confessed. ?I think I always knew I did.? She cuddled up to his side, sighing when he threw an arm over her waist.

After a long stretch of comfortable silence, Heero shifted and asked, ?Are you going back to Mars anytime soon??

?I'm supposed to pick up Noin in a few weeks. She wants to have the baby on Earth. Why?? She craned her neck to watch as the first vestiges of a grin materialized. It was amazing he had ever been such a stoic.

?I want to see the look on Zechs's face when I show up with you.?

The End

[MarvelGirl09]

*melts into a pile of useless mush*

This story...will never get old ><

[flipped]

awesome timing at that.

[matisleonhart]

Another awesome story Gundam Girl, absolute perfection. That all I really can say about it!

[sitboy007]

I heart this story. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Plus it was very well written. You have some talent there !

[Andrea]

She considered the merit of saying hello, decided to skip it. After all, they had never bothered with good-bye.

I've gone over this over and over and over. It's so poignant. Oh, I loved this so much, sweets, it's been ages I read a 1xr ficcage of this calibre.

[Ice_Vixen]

excellent story. very well done. you kept them so wonderfully in character. you made their reunion romantic and realistic without adding all the fluff and nonsense and "ooc"ness. I think this is now one of my favorite reunion-based stories! keep up the good work!

[Faye Faye]

You have always been my favorite. I just...can't get over how amazing your stories always are. These are the stories I keep returning to read. tasteful, well written, and absolutely romantic as hell.

[momiji_k]

Wonderful story! I really enjoyed this and it left me wanting more! They are so well portrayed and the ending is just awesome!

[Elyn Yuy]

"I want to see the look on Zechs's face when I show up with you."

PRiceLess!!! ROFL